


Welcome Home

by TheBlindBandit



Series: Down To Bismuth [3]
Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Bad Puns, Bubbled Gems, Episode Tag, Episode: s05e22 Made of Honor, F/F, Gem Corruption, Implied Bismuth/Biggs, Implied Pearl/Bismuth, Implied Ruby/Sapphire (Steven Universe), Minor appearance by Amethyst, Minor appearance by Garnet, Minor appearance by Peridot, Minor appearance by Ruby, Minor appearance by Sapphire, Pillow & Blanket Forts, Post-Episode: s05e22 Made of Honor, lots of hugs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-06
Updated: 2018-08-06
Packaged: 2019-06-22 08:03:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,961
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15577434
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheBlindBandit/pseuds/TheBlindBandit
Summary: Wedding preparations are well underway, and Bismuth is glad to be back. Less glad, maybe, of being the sole exception there.The Burning Room is too crowded.





	Welcome Home

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the August 4th 2018 second Bismuthversary - this time finally unbubbled!

Biggs was, true to her name, a big one, and if she didn’t know it wasn’t how Gems worked, Bismuth would have sworn the jasper had grown at least a couple of inches since they’d first met. It was more likely just the shift in her bearing and attitude - no need to keep her nose down in case some stuck-up agate was having a bad day, after all. No strict formations to hold for hours, no palanquins or throne rooms or control centres to stand statue-still ever-imposing guard over.

It was a real wonder what even the first whiff of freedom did to Gems. Bismuth hoped with all her might she’d get to keep seeing it, and so much more beyond just that first step, for a long time to come. That she’d get to lend a helping hand to anyone grappling with the newfound world of endless possibilities before them.

Right now it meant a constant stream of visitors to the Forge, some more demanding and more of a challenge than others, but all of them a joy to figure out - and Bismuth was with them all the way up to the moment they put their hands on that axe, or sword, or halberd, or whatever it was they felt had their name on it.

Outfitting Biggs was a blast in entirely different ways from, say, making intricate but elegant and still very deadly things for Pearl, or revelling in the perfect symmetry of something lovingly crafted for Garnet, or pouring all of herself into creating something befitting of Rose.

The Forge was mercifully empty when the hulking Biggs Jasper started swinging her new axe, testing the balance and hefting it onto her shoulder, a look of utter and very contagious glee on her face. “You’ve really outdone yourself this time, Bis - this is flawless! Oh, just look at how it _arcs_. I don’t even know how you managed to make it so large and still so perfectly… wieldy.”

Bismuth could only match her grin with a bright and proud one of her own. “Hey, you know what they say: go Biggs or go home!”

The response of a playful jab to her shoulder almost sent her flying halfway across the room and into a nearby pool of lava, but Biggs made sure to catch her and spin it into a hug - quick, but heartfelt, just like everything else she did. “You’re a riot, Bismuth.”

She shot Biggs her best approximation of a deeply thoughtful expression. “Pretty sure I’m wanted for starting that memorable one the last time Blue Diamond held court, but I can’t recall I’ve ever been _called_ one. Thanks!”

“Well, first time for everything,” Biggs snickered. The hand clapped on Bismuth’s shoulder spanned halfway across her back, and she wouldn’t have traded that weight for the world. “Never change.”

She patted Biggs’s arm. “Only for the better, hey? This bismuth has a _very_ demanding customer base. Wouldn’t want to let you lot down by not keeping up with the latest trends in arms and armour and terrible but entirely necessary jokes.”

The suitably big, sunny smile felt like more than enough reward. “I know you, Bis. You could never let us down.”

–

The lava bubbled steadily, familiarly - what Bismuth would have called calming, maybe, in slightly different circumstances.

Its glow washed over all the endless bubbles serenely bobbing up and down, muting their many colours until staring at them almost made them blur into one strangely monochrome mass. But Bismuth blinked and refocused her gaze, determined to give each and every Gem her due. Even the ones she didn’t recognise. After all, it didn’t seem like sides mattered much anymore, not here.

There, again, was Beryl, and right next to her Bixbite and Tiger’s Eye. Then, very close together, a few quartzes she didn’t know, probably from the same unlucky battalion. Floating just below them, the familiar blue glint of the Kyanite who’d only just joined when Bismuth was- when Bismuth got-

Well, she’d take another look at those blue-grey throwing knives she’d never gotten to finish. Just in case. For when Kyanite might need them again.

And there - _Biggs_. Gem shining, in perfect condition, within a fresh pink bubble that pulled at Bismuth’s insides strangely.

She took hold of the bubble very carefully - no need for a repeat of the last time she’d handled it, especially not by accident. It was still seared into her mind’s eye, the way the form had twisted and contorted, and she could still hear the _sound_ -

From what the others had told her about this corruption, it wasn’t likely the Gems suffering it were really aware of what was happening to them - at least Bismuth hoped not. Small mercies. So when they managed to… to fix it, to help them, they wouldn’t remember any of it. It’d be as if they’d spent all the years peaceful in their bubbles, until it was time to come back.

And they’d be lost, and disoriented, and confused. But Bismuth would be there, to help them catch up. To help them get back on their feet.

“Guess it’s kinda fitting I was keeping you company here for a bit, huh?”

There was no response, of course. The way Steven told the story, she really was the only exception, and she tried very hard not to think about the chain of events that led to her avoiding sharing the fate of so many of her comrades and friends.

Bismuth hated thinking and rethinking and doubting when she didn’t have something to keep her hands busy. Maybe it was time for some of that - after all, that wedding wasn’t going to organise itself. Someone was bound to need help with something, and Bismuth would be more than happy to provide.

She toyed for a moment with the whimsical idea of taking the bubble outside, but knew it would only be for her own benefit. She’d had enough personal experience with it by now to know there wouldn’t be anything coming through to the bubbled Gems. Just a great, big, long… _nothing_. Like pausing an entire existence.

And resuming it over five thousand years later, dropped into a world so changed as to be incomprehensible. But she would try, and do her best. What else was there to do? What else had she ever done?

She wouldn’t let them down.

She was out of there, for better or worse, and the others weren’t, and who knew when, if ever (but no, she couldn’t think like _that_ ), they would be there to join her in stretching her legs. As if thousands of years of non-existence gave you nothing but a cramp, just made you crave a bit of fresh air-

Biggs’ bubble floated up to join the others once again. And it didn’t seem to matter that she couldn’t possibly feel the light, loving brush of Bismuth’s fingers as she let her go, or hear her murmured goodbye.

“I’ll see you around, buddy. Miss you.”

Bismuth brushed the tears away - how dare they sneak up on her like that! - and thought instead of her own unlikely return in the eyes of the others. The remaining others, anyway. The way Garnet had insistently draped an arm over her shoulders, or snuck a hand into the crook of her elbow, or took one of her much larger hands between both of her own. The way she’d subtly but surely refused to let go of Bismuth for too long. Just in case.

The way Sapphire - adamantly cool, collected Sapphire, but so often at her best when she let that go - had almost toppled her in her outburst of joy and surprise, and the way Ruby and Pearl had succeeded. The way Pearl’s head fit neatly between Bismuth’s shoulder and chin and happily burrowed there, and that wonderful tactility of hers that worked so well with Bismuth’s own.

They were all outside when she stepped out of the odd wooden dwelling, along with those of their small number that Bismuth had yet to get to truly know, and the day’s preparations seemed to be winding down.

Outside, too, was the murmuring sea, and pale sand, and fading orange-red sunlight, and a gentle evening breeze.

Breathing, Bismuth had thought from the moment she’d learned of the practice from a very excited Rose, was such a quintessentially human thing. An oddly effective way of anchoring yourself to every moment, even as they inexorably trickled by. And, sure, while it would fade and pass as she got used to _being_ again, just now Bismuth felt very, very greedy when it came to moments.

So she savoured every fresh breath of mildly salty air, happily lingered on the way Ruby and Sapphire greeted her in perfect sync, returned Pearl’s near desperately tight hug, and ruffled Amethyst’s hair when she tried to playfully elbow her in passing. Then she caught a stray flying tin can and let Peridot know she had endless ideas when it came to creative uses of her metal powers, and made sure to offer to merely lend an ear as well.

“Oh, hey, Bismuth!” Steven skipped up the steps next, almost afloat with excitement. “I was just about to go take care of the sleeping arrangements for tonight. It’s a bit crowded, but I’m sure we’ll manage.”

Bismuth blinked. “Sleeping arrangements?”

“Well, I know Gems don’t really need it, and I don’t think I’ll be getting much tonight anyway, but still. It’s my duty as a host and wedding planner to accommodate everyone. And,” Steven hesitated a bit, suddenly busy looking at his feet, his folded hands, the door - anywhere but at Bismuth, “last time you were here you said you wanted to, but didn’t really get to try it in the end, so I thought…”

Bismuth put a hand on his shoulder as he trailed away. “Hey, why not?”

It was enough to make Steven bounce back in an instant. “It’ll be great! You can have MC Bear Bear, and that quilt you seemed to like, and as many pillows as you want.” Then he froze in sudden realisation. “Oh! We can build a fort!”

“Now _that_ I most definitely can do.” Bismuth grinned as he half-dragged her inside, even though she had no idea what most of his words meant.

For all his talk of excitement precluding sleep and listing things that still needed to be prepared for tomorrow, the end of the evening found Steven out like a light under the stacked and angled pillows and draped blankets that were supposedly an acceptable fortification.

Bismuth, for her part, ended up on the couch, promised quilt thrown over her shoulders. It wasn’t the comforting heat and consistency of being immersed in lava, perhaps, but it was soothing in its own way, and the weight and texture of it were both pleasant and grounding.

The house was quiet save for the soft sounds of the waves wafting in from outside. Ruby and Sapphire had run off earlier claiming last-minute wedding preparations, but most likely to spend a little time away from it all, just the two of them. Pearl had given Bismuth a quick but excited presentation on what she’d gleaned of human customs pertaining to the ceremonial exchange of rings - and thus Bismuth’s own _absolutely_ _instrumental_ role in Garnet’s impending union - and now sat in peaceful and seemingly content silence with her head resting against Bismuth’s shoulder. Amethyst was dozing away bunkered next to Steven in the fort, and Peridot was busy with a supposedly highly secret project in the bathroom and had barred anyone from entering.

Bismuth wrapped the quilt tighter around herself, leaned back to rest more comfortably without dislodging Pearl, took a deep breath, and closed her eyes.


End file.
